This article is adapted from AQ’s print issue on entrepreneurship. To see our AQ Top 5 list of young entrepreneurs in Latin America, click here.
Latin America is brimming with entrepreneurial talent, and the list of exciting new ventures in the region doesn’t end with our AQ Top 5. That’s why we asked Endeavor, an organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurs around the world, to tell us about some more young founders whose ideas and energy could one day change the way we work, shop and think about our planet. Here are just a few of the names on their list.
Agustina Sartori and Carolina Bañales
GlamST, Uruguay
Ages: 29, 30
Carolina Bañales and Agustina Sartori met while studying telemetric engineering in Uruguay. Combining their personal interest in beauty with a shared passion for technology (and serious programming skills), Bañales and Sartori developed facial-recognition software capable of showing how a variety of different makeups would look on people’s faces. Based on their technology, the pair founded GlamST, an app that lets users virtually try on everything from shiny lip gloss to powder-based foundation.
Claudio Sassaki and Eduardo Bontempo
Geekie, Brazil
Ages: 42, 33
Having led successful careers in the world of finance, Claudio Sassaki and Eduardo Bontempo found a meaningful way to give back to their community by helping young Brazilians reach their full potential. Today, one in every two young people who starts high school in Brazil is unable to finish. To try and fix that, Sassaki and Bontempo in 2011 founded Geekie, a personalized online learning platform that expands access to quality education. Their program has already reached 5 million young students.
Adalberto Flores
Kueski, Mexico
Age: 33
Adalberto Flores is a seasoned executive in the finance and software industries who in 2013 launched Kueski, an innovative, algorithm-driven online consumer lending platform specializing in microloans. His easy-to-use platform targets the 85 percent of Mexican consumers who do not have access to formal credit. Kueski has so far made tens of thousands of loans, growing 10 times in size in 2015.
Emiliano Kargieman
Satellogic, Argentina
Age: 41
Emiliano Kargieman is a serial entrepreneur and a major player in Argentina’s tech ecosystem. Struck by the antiquated nature of space technology, Kargieman launched Satellogic in 2010 with the aim of democratizing access to space-based services. Thanks to better technology, higher-resolution cameras and more efficient imaging processes, Satellogic will be able to provide images of Earth 100 times more frequently and 1,000 times cheaper than traditional Earth observation companies.
Sebastiaan Saverys
SteviaOne, Peru
Age: 37
Sebastiaan Saverys founded SteviaOne based in part on his experience as a volunteer for Engineers Without Frontiers (now Engineers for a Sustainable World) on farmland in Guatemala and Ecuador. Saverys’ sweetener naturally isolates the stevia plant’s sweet-tasting glycosides without chemicals or alcohol, and is produced on an industrial scale that’s cheaper than traditional methods, environmentally friendly and socially beneficial.
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Endeavor is a non-profit organization based in New York City that supports high-impact entrepreneurs around the world.
